The stranger stepped into the dim light. His voice had the same cold finality I'd heard before—years ago, in nightmares I never understood.
"You're lying," I whispered.
"I never lie, Nyra," he said, removing his mask.
And the moment I saw his face—my knees buckled.
Because it was mine.
A male version, older, crueler… but undeniably me. The same sharp jaw. The same burn scar on the neck. The same fury in the eyes.
"You're not real," I said. "You're a clone. A failed experiment."
He tilted his head. "No, you were the experiment. I was the original. Project Arin was never about making you into something new. It was about replacing me with something better."
I took a step back.
"You're insane."
He smiled. "You really think your memories were just erased? No, little twin. They were overwritten. The pain, the trauma—it's all still inside you, stitched like spiderwebs through your mind. And soon… they'll all come back."
---
Elsewhere – Celeste's POV
I was almost at the control room when I saw the blinking red light.
Someone else was already inside.
I pulled my blade, silent.
As I stepped in, the body on the floor made my blood freeze.
Lira.
Eyes open. Neck twisted. A message carved into her arm:
"Too late."
My breath caught.
I slammed the console. All surveillance had already been transferred to a private server.
"Kai," I muttered.
But deep down, I wasn't sure if I blamed him anymore. Because something darker than Kai was moving.
Something none of us saw coming.
---
Back to Nyra
"Why now?" I demanded, circling him.
He mirrored every move like a perfect reflection.
"Because you're waking up," he said. "Your brain's finally rejecting the false code. The more you dig, the more real you become. And that makes you dangerous. To everyone."
He threw a file at my feet. I picked it up, hands shaking.
"Termination Protocol – ARIN"
My name was at the top.
So was Celeste's.
And Kai's.
"What is this?" I asked.
"Plan Z. The moment you remember who you really are—Ravian, Leo, even Kai—they've all agreed to kill you."
He stepped closer.
"But I won't let them."
"…Why?"
He leaned down, voice soft.
"Because if you die, I die. And I won't let either of us be erased again."
Then he was gone—vanished into the mist like a shadow.
---
Kai's POV
He stared at the photo in his trembling hand.
Nyra as a child.
Smiling. Alive. Before everything.
Before he let them use her.
"Forgive me," he whispered.
Then, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a key—one he swore never to use.
It unlocked the final vault.
The place where the truth lived. Where her real past waited. Where the dead still whispered.
And for the first time in years, he was ready to face it.
---
Back to Celeste and Nyra
We met at the hallway's end.
Her face was pale. Mine was blood-smeared.
"He's real," I said.
"Who?"
"My mirror."
Celeste blinked. "You met Subject Zero?"
I froze. "You knew?"
"I didn't believe it until now."
We stared at each other.
Then she said, "Then it means it's starting."
"What is?"
She looked down the corridor, where the lights were flickering.
"The real war."
---
End of Chapter 44